Enchanted Forest Unveils 2015 Visitor Numbers
The Enchanted Forest, Perthshires multi-award winning sound and light show, has released its visitor numbers for its 2015 show which closed on Sunday night, confirming it attracted just over 62,000 visitors to the Highland Perthshire area over a 32 night run, a 33% increase on the previous year.
The 2015 show, flux, saw the return of the creative team that put together last years successful award winning show, with lighting design by Kate Bonney and Simon Hayes, sound design and composition by RJ McConnell and Jon Beales. Led by Show Producer Derek Allan, their combined creative vision is being lauded as the critical success of an event that has been crowned Scotlands Best Cultural Event no less than three times in the last four years. The event was recently shortlisted as a finalist for Cultural Event of the Year at the UK Event Awards and currently holds the VisitScotland National Thistle Award for Best Event.
This latest announcement confirms The Enchanted Forest has now broken all previous box office records, and has driven a surge in visitor numbers of over 33% on the previous year. It is predicted that the events impact on the local tourism economy is now expected to be in the region of £2.75million per annum with over 50% of all visitors to the event choosing to stay overnight in the area on their visit and 90% citing the event as their main reason for visiting the area this Autumn.
Graham Brown, chairman of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust that runs The Enchanted Forest, commented:
This is a tremendous success for Highland Perthshire tourism businesses and we are deeply encouraged by the continued support of our visitors, many of them loyal visitors who return to the Forest year after year. It is a testimony to the hard work put in by the community that our visitors number continue to grow year on year, and that our show continues to go from strength to strength.
Visitors to the event this year included Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank who tweeted out his attendance to his 81,000 followers as well as Tomas Jansen, Head of Sales for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts who, following his visit, commented:
It was great!!! Well done and well executed, we really enjoyed it.
The show was also featured on BBC1 Countryfile with presenter Ellie Harrison revealing the wonders of The Enchanted Forest to the nation.
Despite extending their run to accommodate increased demand, the event still sold out of all tickets by the 18th October. Over 4000 people who were not lucky enough to get tickets for this years show have already signed up to an advance notice list to purchase tickets for 2016. More information on how to sign up is available on www.enchantedforest.org.uk
The 2015 show FLUX was designed by a creative team led by Derek Allan including Scottish lighting designers Kate Bonney and Simon Hayes, and specially composed and recorded music, and sound effects by RJ McConnell and Jon Beales. Together they have created a dazzling and engaging show which celebrates the stunning woodland setting of the event.
